Nikon D600 Issue & Questions

Due to financial needs, I sold my D800 about a month ago.   I loved that camera but wasn't using it nearly as much as my D7200, and I have free unlimited use of my wife's D600. I have been shooting down at my blinds a bit lately with both the D7200 and the D600, and I am not getting nearly as sharp images with the D600. I have fine tuned the body many times now and it is not a fine tuning issue. The files are all soft, even when compared to what I got with my D800 (which was very good). I know about the re-call for the D600 and phoned Nikon Canada the other day to confirm that it was still valid, and it is. After the New Year, I am going to send the D600 to Nikon for the re-call repair. However, under the re-call process they told me all they will do is replace the shutter mechanism. Anything else and I will have to pay for it, since the camera is long past its two year warranty period. I have owned and/or shot with almost all Nikon bodies, so I know when a specific body is not performing up to standard. So a few questions:

1) Is it possible that their replacement of the shutter mechanism could do something to correct the sharpness issues I am having?

2) I do not want to (nor can I afford to) just give them the random okay to start searching for the problem. So what are some things that could cause this and I should suggest for them to look at?

3) Could it just be a simple adjustment of the sensor or something?

FWIW, this D600 is like new with probably less than 3000 actuation's on it. It has never been dropped and rarely used. I really need to get this D600 working at least as good as my D800 did as it is my only FX body and my only backup to my D7200.

Suggestions or thoughts on how to correct this are appreciated. I can post samples of what I am talking about if anyone is interested.

Since virtually all of the D600's had a sensor oiling issue to some degree, there may be a thin film of oil all over it. Ultimately they introduced the D610 with a redesigned mirror/shutter mechanism to eliminate the problem.  Here is how you get a repair for free due to this in Canada even on an out of warranty camera:
http://en.nikon.ca/service-and-support/ ... amera.html

I already talked to Nikon about sending the camera in for the oil film issue, which is done under their re-call procedure free of charge. So what you are saying is that my issue may be some oil film already on the sensor. That would be great because it would be resolved by Nikon service then as part of the re-call repair. I am going to send the camera to them for that repair, but the wopman I talked to on the phone was telling me that I would have to tell them about the focusing issue and authorize them to work on that issue at my cost. Let's hope you are correct and it is a result of the known re-call issue.

Yeah the oil gets on the sensor and contaminates it.  Cleaning the sensor just smears it all around.  Even if you don't clean the sensor on a camera with that little use it is likely sitting for long periods where oil can spread and/or volatilize and redeposit as a haze all over the sensor.  I would just tell them you have a D600 and the sensor is so badly contaminated that the pictures are hazy.  Then send it in under the recall and they will do the repair and they always check all functions and have to check the sensor function anyway.  It's really the only thing that makes sense given what you have written about what you are seeing since you calibrated the lenses.  It doesn't sound like a focusing thing because then somewhere in the image things would be sharp, just in the wrong place.  I think it is very probable that the repair will resolve the issue.

Awesome . . . . thanks EJ. I have already sent Nikon Canada an email asking to start the process. It is basically as you describe; i.e. no part of the subject is sharp. Kind of like there is a smearing or slight film over it. It's not super bad, but bad enough that I do not want to use the camera.

Tim, I know you know this and am sure it's not the problem, but I've seen this happen when other peoples camera are borrowed. Make sure it's in AF- C not AF- S.
If your wife had it in AF-S the it would be sharp only on the first frame and slightly OOF on every frame after that.

Thanks Alan, and I am probably stupid enough to so that,    but it was definitely on AF-C.

My D610 has never had the problem your D600 has been having regards sharpness. And of course, they both have the same sensor. When focused properly the images are crisp. Since you have fine tuned the body/lens combos, I strongly think EJ must be right about the oil film being the cause. That camera is simply capable of much better performance than what you have experienced. Hopefully that gets resolved with a shutter replacement and cleaning by Nikon for you Tim.

FWIW, my D600 is back with Nikon right now. Keeping my fingers crossed that it will come back in a much more usable condition.   EJ, thanks for that link to the D600 recall with Nikon Canada. The whole process worked easily and smoothly and cost me nothing!

Another update

Nikon Canada sent me an email saying that there would be a repair cost of $540, and that they would not do the shutter mechanism replacement under the recall procedure until I approved these repair costs. There was no other explanation of what these mysterious repair costs entailed, so I phoned them. They told me the camera had a crack in the front which needed to be repaired. I was shocked!!!  This camera was my wife's camera, and only had about 3500 actuations on it. It was basically brand new and have never been dropped or abused in any way at all. They told me it was definitely impact damage. So I said there was no way I could afford it and if they weren't going to do anything then to just ship it back to me. After thinking about it a bit more, I decided to contact them again and suggest that the only possible way it could have been damaged was by Purolator Courier who they hired to ship it back to them. I also asked if they or Purolator had insurance on the package. It didn't take more than an hour or so before I got an email back from Nikon. The email said "We have now eliminated the estimate amount and will be repairing your camera as a one-time complimentary repair."  So they must have realized that it was likely damaged by the courier and decided  to do the repair outside of an insurance claim. I sure hope the camera works better when I finally get it back.

Tim Zurowski wrote:Another update

Nikon Canada sent me an email saying that there would be a repair cost of $540, and that they would not do the shutter mechanism replacement under the recall procedure until I approved these repair costs. There was no other explanation of what these mysterious repair costs entailed, so I phoned them. They told me the camera had a crack in the front which needed to be repaired. I was shocked!!!  This camera was my wife's camera, and only had about 3500 actuations on it. It was basically brand new and have never been dropped or abused in any way at all. They told me it was definitely impact damage. So I said there was no way I could afford it and if they weren't going to do anything then to just ship it back to me. After thinking about it a bit more, I decided to contact them again and suggest that the only possible way it could have been damaged was by Purolator Courier who they hired to ship it back to them. I also asked if they or Purolator had insurance on the package. It didn't take more than an hour or so before I got an email back from Nikon. The email said "We have now eliminated the estimate amount and will be repairing your camera as a one-time complimentary repair."  So they must have realized that it was likely damaged by the courier and decided  to do the repair outside of an insurance claim. I sure hope the camera works better when I finally get it back.

Very interesting Tim:  Sometimes it is the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.  hcarl

hcarl wrote:

Tim Zurowski wrote:Another update

Nikon Canada sent me an email saying that there would be a repair cost of $540, and that they would not do the shutter mechanism replacement under the recall procedure until I approved these repair costs. There was no other explanation of what these mysterious repair costs entailed, so I phoned them. They told me the camera had a crack in the front which needed to be repaired. I was shocked!!!  This camera was my wife's camera, and only had about 3500 actuations on it. It was basically brand new and have never been dropped or abused in any way at all. They told me it was definitely impact damage. So I said there was no way I could afford it and if they weren't going to do anything then to just ship it back to me. After thinking about it a bit more, I decided to contact them again and suggest that the only possible way it could have been damaged was by Purolator Courier who they hired to ship it back to them. I also asked if they or Purolator had insurance on the package. It didn't take more than an hour or so before I got an email back from Nikon. The email said "We have now eliminated the estimate amount and will be repairing your camera as a one-time complimentary repair."  So they must have realized that it was likely damaged by the courier and decided  to do the repair outside of an insurance claim. I sure hope the camera works better when I finally get it back.

Very interesting Tim:  Sometimes it is the squeaky wheel that gets the grease.  hcarl

Hope there's no "grease" (on the sensor, that is) when it comes back!